Rail joint



May 6, 1930. l

A. T. PALMER IIIIIII NT Patented May 6, `193() Y ALrHoNso r. infinis/nait,-k

Vor CHICAGO, ILLINOIS RAIL :roiNT Application'jiea septemteril, 1926, serial No. 134,881. Renewed'octoter 4,1929.

This inventionrelates to means forv joining theY ends of railway rails, and has j forits objectjthe provision of a joint whichwill hold the Yrails rmly in abutting relation, avoiding 5 relativemovement of the ends of the rails,

' sion and contraction.: Theanglev plates 12 will, however, prevent anytransverse movethu'sprolonging the lifeof the'joint' and preventing shock to the cars passingover the rals. Y

A further Objectis to provide a jointA the parts of which will be economical to manufacture and install, Vwhich shall have few. parts and which will not become loose from the j Mr and vibration incident to the passage lof trains; thereover.A v`

Other objects ofthe invention will appear from the following description. l i j The invention is exemplified in the `combination and arrangement `of ,parts shown in Ythe accompanying drawing and "describedy in the following specification, and it is more particularly pointed lfoutA in the appended claims. j v ij l Inthe drawingfj I j v Fig. 1 Vis a side elevation-ofI aljoint embodying one form ofthe present invention.

` Fig. 2 isv a section on line 2-2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a section on line 3-3 of Fig. 2."

Fig. 4 is ak perspective viewof my improved clamping' bar. j' y l AThe numeral L10 vdesignates the abutting ends of railway rails supported on ties 11 in the' usual manner. Angle plates V12 are arranged to overlap the joint between the Vends of the rails 10 and are providedpwith inclined upper and lower facesl for engaging the lower surface of the head of the railand the topsurfaces of the rail flange. TheV plates 12 are drawn into the recesses in the sides j 40 of the rails 10 by bolts 13. It will beseen l the rails .10. 'The openings 14; in the rail web are larger than'the b'olts`13`to'permit long-itudinalmovement of the rails dueto expanment provided the angle plates are jalways "kept: tightly clamped in the recesses in the sides. It is'therefore of great importance that the angle plates be held tightly allV times for if they are permitted to work loose there will be relative movement" of the endsV l ofthe rails as thefcar wheels pass fromy one rail to thevother and this relative movementf Will set up vibration which produces wear and intime destroys the rail joint. The vibrati'on duevto'the relativeinovement of the rail ends is also one ofthe greatest sources of wear and tear on the rolling stock as well asa source-of disturbance to passengers. f The present invention provides a powerful spring actionon the bolts 13, which automatically holds the plates 12 tightly in posi- Vtion at alltim'es even though the nuts on the bolts should `be loosened. However, the

spring force exerted on the bolts isfsuiiiciently great to prevent the Vnuts lfrom. rloosening under the' action of the trains passing over i the joint or other influences to whichthe joint is subjected. To produce this spring force,

a plate or bar'l is vplaced against thel outer face of one of the angle plates 12 and is provided 'with perforations V16 j through which f the bolts 13 extend; The bolts13 are com monly provided with elliptical shank portions l17 to hold the bolts fromlrot'ating while holes inthe platel 15 may therefore bemade elliptical to receive the elliptical Shanks 17. i

ythe nuts are being tightenedf AlternateV The bolts are commonly alternated in direc- Y tionso that everyother opening liinay be l Y elliptical and thev alternate openings may be round.'V vThe plate15 is made of comparatively .heavy spring steel and may be approxi-V mately from fg toll/inch in thickness.VV The thickness may, of course, be variedto suit particular conditions. The plate isprovided witha series of transverse curves or undulations, as indicated inthe broken lines in 2, which shows the form of the plate Vbefore the nuts are tightened. 1 The spring plate is curvedjoutwardly'away from'the f'angle platefat each point where Va bolt passes through the spring plate, so that when the bolts are tightened the plate will be placed tiines not only increases the eiiciency-offthe by a at plate. Y i Itis especially important that therail ends,-

`be held in registration vat points as close to nimportant feature of the invention is the double curvature of the spring plate 15,

as shown in Figs. 3 and 4. The plate is notonly provided with a series of undulations, but it is alsocurved' throughout its length about a longitudinal. axis. It will be apparent that this longitudinal `curvature' greatlyy xnultipliesfthe resilient strength of thepla'te. Each of the convex portions through `which the bolts pass is, in effect, a doine so that the strength of the plate `is many times that of a simple bar or beam such as is persented the' endsas possible. It will bereadily ap- -parentjthat force holding therail-fin regisstration is much-more effective ifiapplied di frectlyfto the rail ends thanit would be if applied some distance frointhe-endsof the rails. VFor thisreason the bar 15 lis made continuous across the jointe-and .is :provided 'with an inward curve in direct registration Ywith the joint between the ends o'f-.therails 'In-this Way the springapressureis made oper-l ative at the point where itisinost effective. This .arrangementfalso makes it possible to use a single piece for supplying-thespring tension to the entire joint `and Afor holding all of the nuts in position.` V'lhef'tremendous force Vwhich acts continuously on the `bolts makes itV unnecessary 'to `:provide other locking means for the'nuts Sothatra'joint can v*be much more easily assembled'than. can be done fwhereseparate lock washers ar'egrequired for each nut.V This not only 1s an economical oint Which is quickly. andeasilj7 installed', but

. The userof single spring for automaticallyt'aking up all fplay and holdingthe parts of the joint in rigid relationat all .joint but Vgreatly reduces thecost of manu- "facture AThe single." holding l plate can'be formed Vfrom bar stock with a greatsavng Vof'expensecompared to themanufacture of :a number of sinallerparts as heretoforegein- Y ployed.

Iclaimz ,f s .11 p Y 1. Arail joint'spring comprising air/elongated spring plate having :four spaced perforations therethrough, saidV plate being ourvedthroughout its' length about an yextending klongitudinally thereofl andi also being curved aboutfspaced transverselaxes y.to provide undulations, the undulationsbeing extended outwardly towardtheconvex side of said plate-at each-of saidperforations. ZA rail joint spring-comprising an elongated spring plate having undulations there- "i in distributed longitudinallyofV saidV plate between the ends l@ofla'dj acent rails.

and being curved throughout its length about a longitudinally extendingaxis,`said plate Y having four bolt holes extending there through and'coinciding with ,the portions of Asaid plate extending outwardly the greatest amount at the convex side ofthe plate.

V3. The combination witlradjacent ends ofy a .-pairv'offr'ailway rails,fo'f angle iplates extending across the joint between said rails,

, four bolts extending through said angle :plates-and rails',ft\'vo -at each side of said joint., for holding said angle plates and rails.

"together, anda rail-joint spring engaging said bolts, andhaving four. .openings therein through which said 'boltspassf'said spring so 'i .beingcontinuous across thegjoint between j said rails and having anoutwardl-y curved portion .registering 'with Yeach Vof .said fbolts,

the outwardly curved yportionfofsaicl-,plate i being` curvedboth longitudinally land Itransversely of 'said spring to provide. fapproniljiatelyspherical portions yengaged -byfsaid olts.

` A 4. The .combination ywith adjacent .ends of a 4pair ofsrail-way rails and-angle rplates .for @so holding said rails ftogethen-ofr a Aispringplate' crossingthefjoint'fbetweensaid rails andhaw` Y ingan inwardly directed ,transverse feurve registering with said joint,` said plate also having alternating outwardly and inwardly e;

directed curved portionsat opposite sides y of saidlirstfrnentioned inwardly directed curve,V said .platehavingabolt hole in each of said outwardly directed ,portionaandblts vpassing [thro ugh said .bolt holes, angleplates: fand rraill ends, said spring :plate being outnoo wardly curved throughout its length aboiitra l longitudinal axis.

nectinggthe adjacentendsfof a .pair of rails together. comprising- .an elongated plate -'curvedllongitudinally and transversely, :the "longitudinal curvatureV being .substantially serpentine whereas the curvature-in atr'ans-` Yverse direction is arcuate-and .'substantiallyr' uniform throughout-the'length yofsaid plate, saidplate beingadapted tolie over, the joint 6.; A plate adapted to be useddntyingto? gether the adjacent ends of a .pair ofrails. comprisingaplatehaving aseriesof substans tially convex portions extending throughout the length1thereof,eaeh of said convex por- 5. A springplate adaptedtobe used vinf'eon-y tions havingan opening therethrough 'for the f `reception o-f a V:fastening means,.,said plate being adaptedtooverlie thejointfbetween'the ends-of adjacent'.railsfandfbeing suiiciently Y resilient to lpermit ldistortionof said convex porti ons Awhena forceis exerted on saidplate vby the fast'eningnieansjfused inconneetingvthei plateto the endsof theadjacent rat-ilsf f .7.. A'plate adaptedtobe used in tyingtocomprisinga plate "having a series'o'fsub- Stflntlauy COIWQX vtPOT-519118.extending inY 'Sab getherthe `adjacent endsofafpairofrails l stantially the same direc-tion and throughout the length thereof, each of said'convex portions having Van opening therethrough for the reception of a fastening means, said plate being adapted to overlie the joint between the Y ends of adj aoent rails and being suciently resilient to permit distortion o said convex portions when a force is exerted on said plate by the fastening ineansnsed` in connecting the plate to the ends of the adjacent rails.

In testimony whereof I have signed myv naine to this specification on this 9th day-` of Y September, A. D. 1926. e

ALPHoNso T. PALMER-'j Y 

